Bitten
by kathey'ssis
Summary: Phone calls in the middle of the night are never good, still there are times when they need to be made.
1. Chapter 1

Phone calls in the middle of the night are never good, still there are times when they need to be made.

**Bitten**

The station was mostly quiet. There was the mumble from one corner of the dorm, and the sound of squeaky springs as someone turned over in bed from another section of the room. If anyone would have been awake enough to notice there was the quiet clicking of Henry's claws on the hard floor as he made his nightly check of his people during the only time they wouldn't notice he got off the couch.

The quiet was shattered by the ringing of the telephone on the desk next to Captain Stanley's bunk, something that didn't happen very often and when it did there was at least a 70% chance that there was a drunk on the other end of the line who had misdialed the number he intended. Hank suspected it was the same drunk each time and that the station phone number was just one number off of the Harry the guy called to come get him and give him a ride home.

"LA," Hank yawned into the phone, "County Fire department Station 51, Captain Stanley speaking," Hanks voice was professional but his men in the room with him, half listening, have trying to go back to sleep, could hear the annoyance in his voice from being awaken at this time of night. Mike pulled his watch into view and pushed the button to light it up so he could see what time it was. Three a.m. Yep he was annoyed too.

"Captain Stanley, this is Dr. Brackett," Hank jumped to attention, "I'm sorry to wake you but I need to talk with Roy DeSoto, it's rather urgent. You're going to need to take the squad out of service."

There was no doubt in Hank's mind that this was a serious situation, he was also sure it had something to do with that kid his paramedics had been fretting about for nearly a week.

"Roy," Hank called out and then knew he needed to let his man know quickly that nothing was wrong at home. "It's Dr. Brackett from Rampart, he says it's urgent."

Not awake enough to feel the concern he thought he should, Roy stumbled toward the phone in his bare feet and underwear. He hadn't seen the need to pull on his bunker pants, he was pretty sure what this call was about and he knew neither he nor Johnny were going to be happy about the news that was about to be given. When Roy reached the desk he was surprised. He had expected to see the phone handset sitting on the desk while he captain was climbing back in bed. Instead he saw his captain holding the chair for him with one hand and the handset stretched in his direction with the other. There was no longer annoyance on his Captain's face but there was obvious concern.

"This is DeSoto," Roy spoke into the phone as he felt his captain place a hand on his shoulder and push him into the chair he was holding.

"Roy," Dr Brackett started then paused to take a breath, "The Worthington boy died an hour ago. We've had a possible diagnosis we've been working to confirm since yesterday afternoon. Now that he's dead we were able to draw a sample from his brain to get the results it was going to take us several days to get while he was alive. Roy I need you to get to the hospital as soon as you can."

Roy sat stunned in the chair, the phone still held to his ear but he wasn't responding. He didn't hear his captain behind him pick up the mic to the radio that was there and call the station out of service until further notice, he didn't notice the rest of his crew mates sitting up in bed paying attention to every word that was being said, Roy didn't even notice his partner walking around the partition as he pulled his bunker pants up the rest of the way and then worked to button and zip his pants as he walked. He was vaguely aware of Dr. Brackett trying to get a response from him more than once but he just couldn't respond. Finally he showed some form or recognition when he held the phone back to his captain. "Dr. Brackett wants' to talk to you for a moment."

Roy felt the phone taken from his hand and then he turned his mind back in time as he rubbed at the inside of his upper arm. This whole thing had started six days ago.

The call came in as a sick child, the kind of call that started to put a knot in Roy's stomach, any call involving a child did that to him, Once they got there they were met at the door by a woman in near hysterics. "This way, please hurry, it's my son he's really sick, he's so sick he's delirious, please hurry."

"How long has your son been sick ma'am?" Johnny asked as he moved quickly in pursuit of the woman leading the way, there was no need to wait till they could actually see the patient to start getting some kind of history on him.

"Um, it's been about four days now, our family doctor diagnosed it as the flu and told me to keep him down and quiet and give him lots of fluid, but last night he started having trouble swallowing, I called the doctor's answering service and the doctor on call told me to give him a cool bath and if he wasn't better by this morning to make an appointment with our family doctor. But Dr. Jones is out of the office all day today and the nurse couldn't get me in with another doctor until this afternoon. He's so sick I didn't know what to do so she told me if I was that worried I should call you guys."

By now the paramedics were entering the bedroom where the boy lay thrashing on his bed, he was covered with wet towels and his pajama's had already been pulled from his body and thrown into a corner of the room, a quick touch of his forehead said his temperature was high.

While Roy was holding his hand on the boy's forehead Johnny was checking a pulse. "140 and bounding," Johnny then moved his hand to the boys stomach, after shifting the position a few times he called out, "I can't count his breaths he's moving too much."

Roy got on the bio-phone to contact Rampart, Dixie had answered and he gave her the information he had only to have he say, "Stand by 51, we're getting a doctor."

Knowing they would want a blood pressure and an actual temperature on the boy instead of just he's hot to touch, Roy turned to get the thermometer out while Johnny was wrapping the pediatric blood pressure cuff around the boy's arm.

The boy became panicked with the cuff being placed around his arm and started to fight so Roy wrapped his arms around the boy to hold him still while they tucked the thermometer under his arm and Johnny could get a blood pressure.

Still the boy fought with all his might but nothing a strong firefighter couldn't handle. Johnny worked as quickly as he could to get his readings and was trying to reach for the bio-phone when the boy managed to get his head under Roy's arm and took a bite out of the fleshy side under is forearm. It took both Johnny and Roy to pry the kid's mouth loose from Roy's arm and there was no question on either of the paramedics' part that stitches were going to be required.

By then the police had arrived and the officer helped to hold the boy down while Johnny threw some gauze to Roy for his arm and then took over the care of the patient until Roy could apply a couple pieces of tape and join in. It took two people holding the boy's arm still so that Johnny could start an IV and then they taped it down extra securely. When the ambulance arrived they were quick to add restraints to the gurney and the boy was tied down to keep him from pulling the IV before they got to the hospital.

Roy felt fine to drive but not up to wrestling with the kid with his bite so Johnny rode in the ambulance with him and Roy followed behind in the squad. The police officer placed the panicked mother in the cab of the ambulance and they were off. The cop followed them to the hospital to finish his report.

By the time Roy managed to get into the hospital the boy had been paralyzed with drugs and an airway installed. Johnny was being shoved out of the room so that they could do a spinal tap and none too soon for his liking. There was no question in anyone's mind, that kid was really sick.

John was quick to see to it that his partner was taken to the next available treatment room and got his first real good look at the bite on Roy's arm.

Dr. Morton told him right up front that because the kid was so sick he wanted to wash the wound out extra thoroughly and start Roy on prophylactic antibiotics immediately. Roy wasn't in the mood to argue so while the doctor went to work Johnny gave the captain a call at the station and gave him the low down on what was going on. He then spent an extra amount of effort to scrub his face and hands. He even used strait up rubbing alcohol to disinfect his hands in an effort to keep from catching whatever it was that the boy had.

An hour and a half later, Roy was released for duty but was told to let Johnny do all the lifting because he might pull out his stitches if he were to attempt it. John even offered to drive for the rest of the shift but Roy didn't feel good enough to put up with his partners driving quirks that often drove him nuts.

Roy had a bandage wrapped around his upper arm, extra bulky because he was going back to work, and a big lump in his pocket in the form of some pretty potent antibiotics. He had been told to be sure to take them with food or at least milk.

Before they left the hospital the boy's father had been called at work and was there. When they came to the hospital later that day with another patient both sets of grandparents were asking where they could find the family waiting room for the isolation ward.

When Dixie was asked how the boy was doing, her only answer was, "not good".

When they asked if they knew what he had yet, she only shook her head. "Some form of encephalitis they think, they're still doing testing."

Roy was called at home twice while he was off shift to check on how he was feeling, each time he was asked to take his temperature, each time it was normal. Dr. Brackett finally asked him to come into the hospital to let him look at the bite again.

Once the wound was unbandaged and looked over carefully, Dr. Brackett sighed. There was nothing out of the ordinary for a healing bite wound but the boy who had done the biting was in critical condition with a now confirmed case of encephalitis. With Roy's consent Dr Brackett proceeded to inject a hefty dose of Gama globulin into each of Roy's hips. He chose to give the shot personally and proved the rumors are true; doctors don't give shots as painlessly as the nurses do.

When Roy left the hospital he was wishing he didn't have to drive home and sit on the two lumps that were in his hips. The doctor was clearly concerned and because of that concern so was he.

Roy made a point to get extra rest while he was off shift; he believed that adequate rest was the best way to help his body fight off an infection. Dr. Brackett had told him that they had ruled out bacterial meningitis and confirmed that the boy had some kind of a virus so the antibiotics probably wouldn't do a whole lot of good, but he also advised Roy to continue taking them until they were gone.

Roy wasn't really aware of it at first, but he kept his distance from the rest of his family, choosing to spend most of the day alone in his room and to sleep on the sofa during the night after his wife came to bed.

When JoAnne pointed out his behavior he realized she was right and confessed he was afraid of giving something to her or the children. "Just give me a little space Jo, at least until we find out for sure what that kid's got. I just keep thinking of that time Johnny got so sick with that monkey virus. Tim Duntley died from that virus, it's a miracle that Johnny and Dr. Brackett didn't."

Roy looked at his worried wife, he wanted to hold her, to kiss her on the lips and tell her everything was going to be alright. "I just don't want to take any chances," he pleaded for his wife to understand.

Her husband's distancing himself worried her, but his revealed concern further scared her to death.

Roy arrived for his next shift, he was still taking the heavy duty antibiotics and as a result he was slightly sick to his stomach and needed to make regular pit stops in the men's room. Hank offered to give him sick leave until he finished the meds but Roy assured him that he was fit for duty and didn't want to be around his family until he knew everything was clear.

"But you don't mind sharing with us?" Captain Stanley questioned.

"No one here tries to make me feel better by trying to hug me or kiss me every five minutes, and other, such risky behavior." Roy tried to explain.

"I hope not," Hank finally understood and offered a bit of humor to the situation.

For his part, Hank saw to it that a large supply of yogurt was brought into the station. He admitted that it might be a wives tale but it was supposed to help with the side effects of the antibiotics. Roy accepted his offering and felt that the yogurt was helping at least a little.

Throughout the shift they checked on the Worthington boy whenever they were in the hospital. The reports were never good but they reported that he was still alive so there was hope. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta was now weighing in and a representative from their labs was on site. The only thing they had determined for sure was that it was a virus and the belief was that if they could just keep the kid alive until the bug ran its course, there was a chance.

The shift came to an end and then there was a quick twenty-four hour turn around and they were back on duty again.

Roy was actually late for work that morning because he had to stop by the hospital to have his stitches removed. Dr. Brackett had assured him that he'd be able to make it to work on time but then spent an extra amount of time looking over the wound before he let Roy leave.

Brackett did call and let the Captain know it was an excused tardy so Roy wouldn't be in trouble and he did get there by the end of roll call.

John and Roy continued to check on the boy every time they were in the hospital and they were starting to feel hopeful that he was still alive. Dixie tried to temper that hope but stopped short of saying they were sure he wouldn't make it.

Then late the previous afternoon, there was an influx of authority figures visiting with Dr. Brackett. They were led to his office and the door shut behind him.

"What's all that about Dix," Johnny questioned as Roy looked on.

"They think they've got a break on what the Worthington boy has." Dixie offered with no more information.

"Has someone else come down with it?" Roy was quick to ask.

"Maybe," Dixie answered in gloom, "But it's too soon to tell."

-0-

"John, you better drive Roy over to Rampart, they'll be ready for him when you get there." Hank spoke bringing Roy back to the present as he helped him out of the chair. "I'm sure it would be alright for you to change into your street clothes if you'd prefer there, Pal. I bet they're a lot more comfortable than you turn out pants."

"Yeah. . . Yeah, that might be a good idea." Roy mumbled as he stood up and turned around twice in confusion before he headed for the locker room. John headed for his jacket not stopping to ask questions. He knew he'd get Roy to fill him in on the details during the drive to the hospital.

Roy pulled on his jeans and tennis shoes, then pulled his shirt on but didn't stop to button it up before he walked like a zombie to the squad. Mike was at his side and guided him to the passenger side opening the door for him. Once the door was shut behind him Johnny hurried around the squad and climbed in behind the wheel.

Hank pushed the button to open the bay door then stepped next to the open driver's window while it opened.

"John, call me from the hospital and I'll let you know when Roy's replacement will be here. Would you like me to call JoAnne, for you Roy?"

"NO!" Roy nearly shouted. "No, it would only terrify her if you call her this time of night; I'll, I'll call her from the hospital, um, a little later."

"Alright then, it's your call," Hank accepted his paramedic's choice. He didn't completely agree with him but he accepted his choice.

The squad pulled out into the darkness, there were no lights and sirens, this was a, none code R response. Hank walked after them as far as the edge of the bay and stood watching even after the squad turned the corner and couldn't be seen any more.

Mike stepped up to his side and in the back ground, Chet and Marco were walking up as they pulled their suspenders over their shoulders, they stopped in mid bay feeling for sure that their captain would fill them in soon.

At last Hank pushed the button to close the bay doors and turned to face his engine crew.

"The kid that has had John and Roy uptight for the last three shifts died tonight." Hank offered as a beginning of an explanation.

"This is the same kid that bit Roy on the arm right?" Chet clarified, they all knew something was up or the paramedics wouldn't have been sent to the hospital.

"Yeah, that's the one," Hank hung his head then took in and let out a deep breath. "Once the kid died they were able to do some tests that they couldn't do while he was alive to determine what he had."

"It must be something really serious or they wouldn't have asked for Roy to come in to Rampart in the middle of the night." Marco offered up his observation.

"You can say that." Hank took another hesitation breath. "The kid died from rabies."

"Rabies!" the three men exclaimed in unison.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

John felt strange sitting in the driver's seat with Roy in the passenger side. Sure Roy let him drive from time to time but as a rule Roy was much more comfortable behind the wheel and Johnny was good at navigating the fastest way to where they were needed.

Cap had pulled him aside while Roy was getting dressed and told him the final diagnosis on the young boy they had been hoping and praying would recover. Johnny was still reeling from that revelation. Sure they asked about rabies whenever there was any kind of a bite, well any kind of a bite from animals. John never thought he'd see a case of rabies in a human nor did he ever consider that human biting another human.

"You all right, Roy?" John made an effort to get his totally silent partner talking, as well as show some concern.

Roy let out a deep breath followed by another sigh. "To be honest, I'm not sure. For days now I've been remembering how sick you got when you came down with that monkey virus and just hoping what Dr. Brackett was doing to keep me from coming down with anything would do the trick. I never saw this coming."

"You can say that again." Johnny let out a breath of his own. "I thought they had decided the kid had some kind of encephalitis."

Roy looked over at his partner then turned his focus to the road they were traveling again. "That's what rabies is, a form of viral encephalitis, it just happens to have a real crappy survival rate."

"You know you're going to be alright, don't you? I mean they'll get you on the shots and after you're done you'll be just fine. They've never had a case of the person dying if they got the shots started in time."

"Yeah, Yeah, I hear the shots aren't any fun but, a, once they're done there's no record of the person actually getting rabies." In his mind he repeated Johnny's last remark, '_That is if they get them started in time.' _

"Did Brackett say how they figured out what the kid had?" Johnny inquired; he could now see the lights from the upper floors of the hospital in the distance.

"He said that they got a report of some sick baby raccoons. When animal control checked into it they got the story of how these kids found a momma raccoon with her babies only the mother was real sick and died while the kids were watching them. They thought it would be nice to keep the babies for pets so they took them home and hid them from their parents while they figured out a way to convince their parents to let them keep them.

"Apparently one or more of the kids found out that the county wouldn't allow them to keep them as pets and that they would likely be euthanized so they changed their plans to just keep them till they were old enough to set them free again. They've managed to keep them a secret for a little over a month but one of the boys got concerned when it looked like the babies were starting to get sick and yesterday sometime he finally told his parents and they called in the authorities. They were all friends of the Worthington boy and they kind of remember the mother may have bit his finger before she died."

"I bet the parents are having a real hard time with this," Johnny offered after a moment of not able to think of anything else to say. "From what I remember from reading about rabies the kid didn't stand a chance even before his doctor diagnosed him as having the flu."

"I seem to remember Dr. Brackett saying something like that on the phone a little while ago. But I have to admit that after he told me the kid had rabies I can't really remember a whole lot of what he said."

"I can understand that one." Johnny sighed as he pulled into the drive to the hospital. As he stopped to shift the truck into reverse he looked over at his partner. "Well, here we are; do you think they're going to make you ride in a wheelchair?"

Roy blew out another breath, "I can walk."

Johnny didn't respond to his partner's claim nor was he in the least surprised when he saw Dr. Brackett and Dixie standing in the emergency entrance waiting for them, Dixie had her hands on the handles of a wheelchair.

As much as Roy didn't want to get in the wheelchair before he knew it that's right where he was. Dixie was pushing, Johnny was at his side and Dr. Bracket was holding the door to a treatment room open for him to be pushed through.

The head of the county health department, Dr. Brainer, was there as well as a representative from the CDC in Atlanta, a Dr. Holt. While Dixie and John helped Roy into a hospital gown there were questions to answer. They started by asking for the details of the run where Roy was bitten, asked how he felt until now and of course they asked if he had bitten anyone else. The last question was an attempt at humor but Roy wasn't able to laugh. He did lay back and sigh before adding the information that he hadn't kissed his kids or wife or made love since he'd been bitten.

"Right now I'm glad I didn't," Roy whispered against his emotions as he laid his head back against the raised treatment table. Both he and Johnny were noticing that Dr. Brackett was wearing a fresh set of scrubs and that Dixie was putting out a surgical pack as they talked.

Roy swallowed back his panic and looked up at Dr. Brackett before diverting his gaze back to the tray Dixie was setting up. "Doc, what are you going to do to me?"

Roy had heard stories of the muscle being cut away from the area of the bite to prevent spreading the disease and the thought of losing his upper arm muscles not only didn't appeal to him, he saw it as an end of his career.

Dr. Brackett explained what was happening. "We're going to start by taking a couple of small tissue samples. I don't want you to worry; we're only going to need a local anesthetic and the samples will be very small, from three different places around the bite. We shouldn't even need stitches to close you back up again." Dr. Brackett moved closer to the exam table and looked Roy in the eyes. "Then we're going to follow the CDC recommendations and while your arm is still numb, we're going to inject a dose of HRIG, Human Rabies Immune Globulin, into the area around the bite. That will be followed by the first injection of the Rabies Vaccine."

"They give those in the stomach right?" Roy asked and could feel his stomach muscles tighten into a knot as he spoke.

"No." Dr. Holt from the CDC stepped forward. "We no longer do that. We've found that the vaccine is absorbed better if it's injected into the deltoid muscle in the arm than if it's injected into the stomach or hip. The vaccine is better absorbed into the blood stream where it can get to the rest of the body, not just absorbed into the fatty tissue. "

While Dr. Holt was talking Dixie draped a warmed blanket over Roy and tucked it in around his legs and stomach. "Well that will never be a problem here." Dixie spoke up once the CDC man stopped to take a breath. "Roy's a fireman, one of the best in the business, there's not an ounce of fat on him."

Dixie's statement had the desired effect and Roy managed to smile. After a calming breath Roy had one more question he needed answered. "What about how long it's been since I was bitten; is that going to be a problem? I know they like to start these shots right away, the same day if they can."

Dr. Brackett rested his hand on Roy's shoulder as he offered an apology. "I'm sorry Roy. Rabies was never even a consideration on our part until yesterday afternoon. And then even when the testing on the raccoons came back positive we needed to confirm the diagnosis in the boy. We just weren't sure he had been exposed to the raccoons until much later in the day. The tests that are done directly on the brain tissue give us results in a matter of minutes but when the patient is alive you have to take samples from several different sites and the tests to identify the virus in a live patient take up to a couple of days to confirm."

"It's true that we like to start the vaccine within the first 24 hours after exposure but we've had cases where it wasn't started until two weeks after exposure and the person didn't get the disease. Quite frankly we now have no trouble waiting as long as three days to give authorities the chance to locate the animal in question. Not too long ago we had to give up to 21 shots, but due to some refinements in both the vaccine and the way it's administered; now we only have to give five doses of the Rabies vaccine."

It was Johnny that let out the most noticeable sigh of relief with that information, but Roy did close his eyes and lay back against the bed in relief.

After letting out a deep breath Roy turned to face Dr. Brackett once again. "Okay, let's get on with it."

With that declaration Dr. Brackett set out the needed injections and loaded a syringe with the local anesthetic while Dixie gathered a set of vitals on the patient. After recording her readings, Dixie took the chart into the next room and held it up for Dr. Bracket to read while he was scrubbing his hands and arms.

Dixie returned to Roy's side with a syringe. "This is just to help you relax a little," she said as she injected the medication into Roy's hip. She tucked the blanket back around Roy and flattened out the bed.

Johnny stayed at Roy's side while Dixie placed an arm rest to the side of the bed and positioned Roy's arm on it. Dr. Brackett then stepped up with fresh sterile gloves on his hands and Johnny was asked to step into the hall.

Once the door closed behind him, Johnny felt his hands begin to tremble. He let out a couple of deep breaths then decided it was as good a time as any to give Cap a call and get his next instructions.

Author's Notes:

I have spent some time doing some research before taking on this story; I've long lost count of how many pages of material I've gone through. I found a lot of it was written by researchers who have long forgotten the English language in favor of medical language that is part Latin and the other part egotistical researchers that have made sure to get their name in there somewhere.

Not all of the reports I've read agree with each other, especially when it comes to dates and places, but below is a smattering of details that I thought were interesting enough to pass on.

Rabies has been around since the beginning of recorded time but wasn't given a name until sometime in the 1800's, Rabies is Latin for Madness.

September 28 is World Rabies Day, which promotes information on, and prevention and elimination of the disease.

All human cases of rabies were fatal until a vaccine was developed in 1885 by Louis Pasteur and Émile Roux. Their original vaccine was harvested from infected rabbits, from which the virus in the nerve tissue was weakened by allowing it to dry for five to ten days.

The incubation period, the time from exposure to the first symptoms can be anywhere from two weeks to one year, depending on the size of the person or animal exposed and how advanced the disease is when they are exposed. Most often symptoms present themselves with in one to two months.

The first pre exposure vaccine was developed in 1967 and was a human diploid cell _(A diploid cell is a __cell__ that contains two sets of __chromosomes__. One set of chromosomes is donated from each parent.)_ rabies vaccine however, a new and less expensive purified chicken embryo cell vaccine and purified vero cell _(From the area around the kidneys __first from __green monkeys but now more commonly from cows)_ rabies vaccine are now available.

In the U.S., since the widely spread vaccination of domestic dogs and cats and the development of effective human vaccines and immunoglobulin treatments, the number of recorded human deaths from rabies has dropped from one hundred or more annually in the early twentieth century, to one to two per year, mostly caused by bat bites, which may go unnoted by the victim and hence untreated.[4]

The Missouri Dept. of Health and Senior Services Communicable Disease Surveillance 2007 Annual Report states that the following can help reduce the risk of exposure to rabies:[23]

Vaccinating dogs, cats, and ferrets against rabies

Keeping pets under supervision

Not handling wild animals or strays

Contacting an animal control officer, if you see a wild animal or a stray, especially if the animal is acting strangely.

Washing the wound with soap and water between 10 to 15 minutes, if you do get bitten by an animal, and contacting your healthcare provider to see whether you need rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.

Getting pets spayed or neutered. Pets that are sterile are less likely to leave home, become strays, and reproduce more stray animals.

My research is a little sketchy in the area of domestic animal vaccination laws but two things seem to stand out,

1. Laws requiring pets be vaccinated against rabies started sometime in the 1970's.

2. Laws as to how early and how often pets are to be vaccinated vary from state to state.

Fifty five thousand people die from rabies each year more frequently in underdeveloped countries and mostly because of the high cost of life saving and preventative vaccines.

To this date there is only one recorded incidence where a human contacted rabies from another human. That happened when a person received a cornea transplant from a person who died for other causes and no one involved had any knowledge that he was carrying the disease. All donated organs are now tested for rabies before they are transplanted.

There are only six people who have been recorded as surviving rabies after developing symptoms, all of those since the development of the vaccine. As much as I have tried to find out I have no idea in what shape these people are now or what quality of life they have.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

By the time the procedure was completed, Johnny had talked to his captain and returned to the hall outside the room where Roy was being worked on. He hadn't been the least bit surprised that his captain sounded wide awake when he answered the phone, nor was he surprised to hear the sound of the rest of the crewmates in the back ground.

Cap's first question was, "Did they get him started on the shots in time?"

John told him what the expert from the CDC had said as close to word for word as he could remember. When he heard the captain sigh in relief, Johnny joined him again.

When the door to Roy's treatment room opened again Johnny felt as if hours had passed but in truth it had only been about an hour since they had entered the hospital. The procedure itself had taken less than thirty minutes.

Johnny walked in to find the head of his partner's bed was raised again and Roy was flexing and releasing both of his fists. Both sleeves on his hospital gown were rolled up into his armpits and the bite wound was left uncovered. There were three of the smallest Band-Aids around the scar on Roy's arm but the area between the Band-Aids was red and looked painful. On his other shoulder was a red mark about the size of a nickel on top of a lump the size of a small egg, where Roy had received his first dose of the rabies vaccine.

"We'll move you into an observation room for a few hours." Dr Brackett once again stepped up to the treatment table to talk with his patient. "If the side effects remain mild we'll let you go home sometime this afternoon."

"Just what kind of side effects am I in for, Doc?" Roy already knew there was no other choice than to go through with the series of shots but that didn't mean he was looking forward to the ordeal in the least.

"Aches and pains mostly, a general flu like feeling that should get less severe with each injection," Dr. Brackett answered. "It's not uncommon from what I've read for some nausea and a low grade fever. If that happens we'll keep you here where we can treat the symptoms and keep you as comfortable as possible."

Doctor and patient shared eye contact for a few moments. Roy could tell that Dr. Brackett was sugar coating things a little but that was okay with him, he really didn't want to know how bad things could get.

"Have you talked to your wife yet?" Dr. Brackett questioned. Before Roy even had a chance to answer, he added, "Would it help if I talk to her and let her know what's going on and what to expect?"

Roy explained that he didn't want to frighten his wife by calling her in the middle of the night but it was Dixie that convinced him that it would be better for all involved if he just called her and got it over with. "She'll be much more at ease if you talk to her and then I can tell her to just rest until she has the children off to school before she comes in to talk with the doctor and sit with you until you can go home."

Dixie actually had Roy thinking he would be going home and that there was really nothing to worry about so he did call.

"It's me, babe," Roy spoke quickly at the sleepy 'Hello' on the other end of the call, "I'm going to be alright so don't worry."

Even as half asleep as she was JoAnne didn't miss the 'I'm going to be' part of her husband's statement.

"Roy, what happened? How bad were you hurt?"

Dr. Brackett talked to JoAnne and so did Dixie, each trying to settle her down, it wasn't until she talked to Johnny that she actually felt she believed what she was being told and started to calm down.

Johnny stayed with Roy until he was wheeled into an observation room by which time he was already starting to experience some pain in his joints. Dr. Brackett ordered something to make him more comfortable and Roy was soon uncomfortably asleep.

When Johnny backed the squad into the bay he wasn't in the least surprised to find Cap waiting for him. It was just after six in the morning and the wake up tones were a good half hour away but the smell of fresh coffee floated from the day room. Cap was already dressed in his uniform and waiting for a full report.

"McGuire is coming in early to cover for Roy; he should be here in about half an hour. The coffee's fresh, or would you rather change into your uniform?"

John thought a minute about his options then let out a deep breath. "I guess I better go change. Here's some printed information Brackett gave me, you can be reading it and then we can talk when I'm back."

Hank accepted the papers John handed him and gave them a quick look. "How was Roy when you left?"

"He was starting to feel some aches and pains in his joints. Doc gave him something for it and he was able to fall asleep," Johnny answered but his answer sparked some concern in the captain's mind.

"Did he by any chance call his wife before he fell asleep?"

"Yeah, he didn't want to wake her up but Dixie talked him into it."

"That's good, that's good."

While Johnny was in the locker room changing the rest of the crew started to trickle in to do the same. It was clear that they hadn't really been able to go back to sleep either. They all wanted to know how Roy was doing and when they were dressed they all sat around the table talking over the information John brought back from the hospital.

"Over fifty-five thousand human deaths from Rabies a year!" Chet exclaimed just seconds after he was allowed to read one page of the information Cap was going through, "I had no idea things were that bad."

"Yeah." Johnny sighed, "I guess it's one of the leading causes of death in some of the countries in Africa."

"It says here that in North America, skunks and raccoons are the most likely wild animals to be infected. I wonder why that is?" Marco added his amazement at the information, "I mean I would have thought it would be the animals that ate other animals that were at the top of the list. I never even thought of bats having it, but I guess they are mammals, aren't they."

"The side effects to the vaccine look almost as bad as getting the disease," Mike added his insight.

"Well, not quite," Johnny spoke up. "They've never had anyone die from the vaccine, and if you'd seen that kid we took in you'd know there is no real comparison. Still it does look like Roy and all those other kids are in for some rough times ahead."

"So how many kids are they going to give the shots to?" Cap wondered. He thought about all the stray animals his kids brought home, any kid brought home during their life time. He was going to have to sit down with his family and explain the risks involved with that behavior.

"I have no idea," Johnny answered, "but I think they're going to have to vaccinate the kid's whole family. And anybody that came in contact with the other raccoons. I guess they're giving animal control officers the vaccine as part of their work immunizations now."

"Wow, do you think they're going to start making us take them?" Chet asked.

"I don't know the answer to that," Cap spoke up and then turned to John. "What about you John, are they talking about you taking the vaccine? It says here that rabies is a virus that's spread through saliva, you must have gotten some of that stuff on you when you were taking care of the kid, and when you were taking care of Roy for that matter."

"Yeah, but I didn't have any open wounds or any way for the stuff to get into my blood stream and I washed up real good when I got the kid to the hospital. I even used straight rubbing alcohol."

"I still think you should ask the doctor about it," Cap advised.

"Yeah, Gage, you didn't even get bit by that monkey a couple of years ago and look how sick you got then."

John leaned back in his chair thinking about what was being said, the last thing he wanted was to take a bunch of shots that might make him sick but he had to admit there was some wisdom in what was being said. "I'll talk to the doc about it when I go in to visit Roy after shift is over."

Little did he know that Cap planned to have a talk with the doctor before they got off shift.

It was a good thing McGuire arrived already in uniform because he had no sooner stepped inside the building when the tones went off.

"Engine 51, station 105, squad 36 in place of Squad 51, structure fire, South Alameda and Delores Street, South Alameda and Delores Street."

"Station 51, KMG365, also be advised squad 51 is now available," Cap said and because they knew they were going to be called and squad 36 canceled, Johnny and McGuire started discussing who was going to drive.

The fire was in an apartment building right on the corner giving the firemen the best situation to surround the building with equipment. The place had been under renovations and was being repainted from top to bottom leaving only three apartments with residents at the time. All of those occupants were accounted for and standing across the street when the fire department arrived on scene. One lady in her fifties was having a panic attack but all the others were just shook up a little. The cause of the flames was suspected to be spontaneous combustion and only took in four of the sixteen apartments. However one of those apartments was where they had stored all of the paint and painting supplies and there was a lot of fuel for the fire in that apartment. It took them nearly three hours to get the fire completely out and another hour after that to clean up and reload their hose.

When the trucks backed into the bay again the incoming crew had been there for an hour waiting to take over. They knew their paramedic McGuire was covering for one of A shift's paramedics and were quite surprised to see John Gage roll out of the squad when it came to a stop.

"What happened to Roy?" Several of the members of B shift asked.

Hank and John were the last two in the shower, choosing to answer the next crew's questions. They were even more shocked than the A shift crew had been to learn that Roy was exposed to rabies.

Hank then took a moment to hand over all the literature that John had brought from the hospital.

As soon as everyone was showered and changed they all headed for Rampart to check in on Roy. When they walked into the darkened room it was clear that not all was well.

Roy was asleep on his side with an IV started; he had cold compresses on his forehead and on the back of his neck. An emesis basin was close at hand and although it had been washed out there was still moisture as evidence that it had been used. Both injection sites looked painful and were red and swollen in an area larger than an adult hand and Roy had his knees brought up betraying the fact that he was suffering stomach cramps. His skin was all bumpy with a strange sort of hives that appeared to be under the skin rather than on the surface like they usually see. There were also telltale signs that he had been scratching his arms. All of these side effects of the vaccine had been detailed in the information John had taken back to the station.

John was quick to notice that the IV hanging was full of Benadryl and it was clear that other sedatives and probably some pain killers had been given also. JoAnne was sitting at the side of the bed reading some brochures by the light of a lamp and as soon as the men came in the room she held her fingers to her lips and whispered, "Shhh."

JoAnne understandingly allowed the men to look in on her husband for a few moments in silence and then motioned for them to go out into the hall. Once outside they all gathered in a quiet window bay where JoAnne felt she could talk without anyone overhearing.

"He's experiencing what the doctor's call moderate side effects to the vaccines he's been given. They've had to knock him out." JoAnne was being extremely brave but her emotions were very close to the surface. "The Doctor had hoped to send him home this afternoon but in light of all he is experiencing now their planning to keep him here until after his next shot or possibly the third depending on how he does. Dr. Brackett said things should be a lot easier on him after the first few shots but he was planning to recommend Roy be kept either off duty or on light duty until he's finished with all of the shots, at least twenty-eight days."

"Well if that's what the doctor thinks is best for him then I'm all for it," Captain Stanley spoke up quickly. "He's already been put on injured reserve so there will still be some income coming in through workman's comp to help you guys get by." Cap's main goal was to make everything as easy on Roy's family as he could.

"What can we do for you?" Hank then tried a take charge kind of approach. "Have you had anything to eat today?"

Jo hung her head and then shook it.

"All right then, Mike, why don't you stay with Roy. I think it's clear you'll just need to sit there quietly and let him sleep. Chet and Marco, will you please escort Roy's wife to the cafeteria and see to it that she gets something to eat and some pleasant," Cap emphasized the word pleasant, "conversation. John you and I need to find Dr. Brackett."

Mike quickly entered Roy's room and took just a second to replace the cold compress on the back of Roy's neck before he sat in the chair in total silence. Chet and Marco allowed JoAnne to see that her husband was being looked after and then each one of them took a hold of one of her arms and led her away.

John looked at his captain in sheer undeniable fear, he hadn't wanted to even think about getting the shots himself before but now that he saw how much trouble Roy was having with them he definitely didn't want to have to have the shots. Still, the risks of not having them were even more intimidating.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The tension in the elevator was so thick you needed a knife to cut through it. Hank more than understood John's reluctance to have a series of shots, and that was before any of them had seen how hard the side effects were on one of their own. Still, Hank was seeing the line in the literature as if it were still in front of his face in bold face print. _Rabies is 99% fatal if symptoms present themselves before treatment begins'._

Even though there were unpleasant side effects to the vaccine, in Hank's mind no self respecting friend would let another friend take an unnecessary chance with his life, and above all else John Gage and Roy DeSoto were his friends.

Hank had no idea how serious the exposure John had sustained was, but he had no intention of backing down on his follow through until a doctor he respected convinced him there was nothing to worry about.

John was slow to move out of the elevator but did pull himself away from the wall he was leaning against when his captain turned back and looked at him expectantly. From the elevator the two men went straight to the registration desk, Hank taking the lead and John a couple of steps behind.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," Hank started after the person who was at the desk before him turned away with paperwork to fill out. "I'm Captain Stanley of the LA County Fire Department, I really need to talk with Dr. Brackett, it's rather urgent."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stanley," the nurse at the desk spoke down to the concerned captain. "Dr. Brackett is not available, is there something I can do for you?"

"No, I really need to talk with Dr. Brackett, is he in the hospital do you know? It is urgent that I talk with him."

"Cap, maybe Dr. Early or Dr. Morton could answer our questions," Johnny offered, slightly incensed in the manner in which the nurse was treating his captain.

"Johnny!" was heard from behind them and John turned to see Nurse Anne nearly running in his direction.

Johnny waited for her to get within easy speaking range. "What's wrong?"

"Johnny, I've been trying to find you all morning. I called the station but they said you left, I've called your apartment twice."

"What's wrong? Is Roy all right?" John repeated. He wasn't really worried about Roy, he had just seen him. Yes, he was having a rough time but he was stable and nothing was life threatening.

"Dr. Holt from the CDC in Atlanta and someone from the county health department are going over everyone involved with the Worthington case." Anne spoke quietly so as not to give personal information to everyone in the waiting area. "You're on their list of people to check out."

"As well he should be." Captain Stanley stepped up next to John before adding the gesture for the nurse to lead the way and then John to follow as he took up the end position and followed along. When they reached the door to the treatment room that had been set aside for the interviews, the nurse tried to stop Captain Stanley from entering.

"That's okay, Anne." Johnny made and attempt to see to it that his captain was included in whatever discussion would take place. "He's my captain and has both a personal and professional interest in what goes on in here. I'd rather have him with me to ask what ever questions he has and not have to worry about missing something when I tell him what happened if he doesn't go in."

With Johnny's approval Anne removed her hand from Captain Stanley chest and allowed him to enter.

"You were the one that brought the paramedic Roy DeSoto in this morning." The two doctors quickly recognized Johnny as the support person for the bitten paramedic they had treated early that morning.

"Yes, he's my partner." John accepted the offered handshakes.

"I guess that's why you're on our list," Dr. Holt responded looking over some papers attached to a clip board in his hands. "I guess you must be wondering why we didn't talk with you this morning while you were here with your partner?"

"No actually," Johnny straitened up. "I've worked in these kinds of situations before, just like any triage really you take the most serious patient first and then move on down the line until you get them all taken care of."

"That's right; you would understand that in your line of work wouldn't you." Dr. Holt looked to be a man who had gone way too many hours without sleep but Johnny also knew that if it were determined that he needed to take the shots time was a factor.

"Mr. Gage, please sit down and tell me exactly what your involvement was in the initial treatment of Robert Worthington."

"Well, my partner and I entered the house following the boy's mother; she was really scared and telling us that he was so sick he was delirious. When we entered his room we found him thrashing about and at the first touch we could tell that he had a high fever. Because of his movements we were having difficulty getting a set of vitals and a temperature reading on him so while we were waiting for a doctor to come to the radio Roy wrapped his arms around him and held him as still as he could with a thermometer under his arm while I took his blood pressure. It was after we had our readings that Roy loosened his hold on the boy slightly and he managed to get his head under Roy's arm while he was trying to lay him back on the bed and that's when he bit him."

"According to the information that has been given to us, in addition to being combative the boy experienced seizure activity and you had to pry the boy's mouth open in order to get him to release his bite on your partner's arm."

"Yeah, that's right."

"Did you at any point place your hands inside the boy's mouth while trying to get him off of your partner?"

"Ah," Johnny paused as he relived that moment in his mind, "No, Roy had the fingers of his other hand inside the boy's mouth while I placed one hand on the boy's chin," Johnny demonstrated with his hand on his own chin showing how he wrapped his thumb and forefinger around the boy's lower jaw and applied pressure in a downward motion. "Then with my other hand I slipped a bite stick in between his teeth and as carefully as I could I tried to pry the kid's mouth open. I mean I knew he was too sick to really know what he was doing I didn't want to hurt him or break his teeth or anything."

Did you get any of the boy's saliva on you while you were coming to the aid of your partner?"

"A little, on the hand that was holding his chin." John responded and then held his hand out to examine it himself as if expecting to see a burn or something.

"Do you have any cuts or scrapes on your hand from before or since the incident, anything at all that might have broken the skin?"

"Ah, not that I'm aware of," Johnny started looking as his hand even closer.

"Did you at any time place your hand near your face before you washed up?"

"NO, I was really careful of that, and as soon as I got the kid off of Roy Dr. Bracket was on the biophone instructing us to put gloves on and start an IV on the boy."

"So you put rubber gloves on before you started the IV?" John nod his head as confirmation to the statement made. "When did you take the gloves off?"

"Not until after we were here at the hospital and I'd been released from helping with the boy so they could do a spinal tap." John remembered out loud, "I took them off and put them in the hazardous waste basket just before I to washed up afterward."

"Good, good," the doctor said as he scribbled a few notes. John noticed Cap silently sigh with relief when the doctor said that as he leaned against a cart along the wall of the exam room.

"So, Mr. Gage, tell me about when you washed up. What kind of soap did you use and how long did you wash? What area did you wash, was it just your hands or did you wash your arms too?"

"I washed at the decontamination sink at the end of the hall here." John started to explain as he mentally went thought what he remembered. "I used the disinfectant soap and a surgical scrub brush and washed for a full fifteen minutes buy the clock on the wall. And then after that I washed my arms up past my elbows and then washed again with strait rubbing alcohol. After I dried up from there I washed my face using the same disinfectant soap."

"Sounds to me like you were a little worried about catching what the boy had?"

"Yeah, a little. He was one sick kid."

"John came down with a very deadly virus from contact with a monkey a few years ago," Cap interjected into the conversation, "I'm sure, at least I hope, that inspired him to be a little extra cautious."

"Yes, I remember that from your file. Dr. Brackett came down with that same virus if I remember correctly."

"Right."

"That's why he agreed to let us do our job here and to go get some serious sleep himself to reduce the chances of him getting sick this time. Like you said before he really did give it his all with the boy upstairs."

"He always does." Hank beat Johnny to making the statement.

John was then directed to the exam table where his hands were examined under a magnifying glass for any breaks in the skin they even took a few samples from under his fingernails and had John sit by as they looked at them under the microscope.

As the two doctors examined John they made small talk.

"That's very perceptive of you concerning the boy's mental state at the time. I can certainly confirm that he was probably acting out of fear with no real understanding of what was happening to him or going on around him. It's really a wonder that he survived as long as he did after he was admitted here at Rampart. Death usually comes within hours after the patient reaches that state."

"Yeah, Well Dr. Brackett used every trick and treatment he could think of, he left no stone unturned."

"That he did," Dr Holt agreed, "he's a good man, it's also a good thing that the kid hung on as long as he did for your partners sake. We had previously rejected the diagnosis of rabies because we initially found no evidence or history of any exposure. Not until his friends came forward looking for help for their sick pets. Of course it's difficult to get a diagnosis of rabies without a sample of brain tissue, not something you can take from a living patient."

"So is it impossible to know for sure you're dealing with rabies until after the victim dies?" Cap asked from his spot along the wall.

"No, not impossible, but it is a lot more difficult. Where we can run a test on the brain tissue of a dead subject and get a result in a matter of minutes, when the patient is alive we have to run a series of tests that take a couple of days to get the results. As I'm sure you learned in the last few days there are several conditions that have similar symptoms and without a medical history to lead us toward rabies it's not the most likely or the first thing we think of."

When the testing was done the two doctors got together in the corner of the room and compared notes and opinions before approaching Johnny again.

"Well Mr. Gage, we have to agree that you did everything right in this situation and nether I of my colleague here believe you sustained a significant exposure to rabies. In going over your hands there isn't even the slightest paper cut or even a hang nail. It would have been best if you had gloves on the entire time you were with the boy but gloves wouldn't have protected your partner now would they have. I see no reason to require you to take the rabies vaccine but if you are concerned we can certainly set you up for the series."

"I'm not crazy with the idea of taking them if you don't think I need them." John gave as his answer. "Especially after seeing how sick the shots are making my partner right now."

-0-

In Roy's hospital room Mike was quietly watching his friend sleep, stuff like this was something they dealt with as paramedics that the firemen didn't see much of on their own.

As he sat there Roy started to moan and roll onto his back and then his hands reached up to scratch his arms. Having seen the scratch marks on Roy's arm when he first came in Mike knew he needed to stop him so he reached out and held Roy's hands away from his arms but not before pushing the call button. Mike was sure there was something the nurse needed to do to keep Roy from clawing up his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When Roy awoke the next morning, he ached from head to toe and felt as if his head was full of cotton and the inside of one arm and one shoulder felt as if they were on fire. Rolling over in what was clearly a hospital bed, Roy tried to remember why he was there. He reached up to rub his face only to have his wrists taken a hold of and he forced his eyes open to see Johnny sitting on the side of his bed holding his wrists.

"Easy there, Roy," his friend's voice comforted him as he settled back on his pillow and blinked his eyes open.

First his attention was drawn to the thumbless mitten like coverings on his hands then he noticed the hospital issue robe that hung open to reveal hospital issue pajamas on his partner.

"What hap- ?" Roy started to ask and then the fog cleared. He had been bitten and the kid that bit him died of rabies. "Why are you here? Please tell me I didn't bite you?"

"No, Roy, no, you haven't bitten anybody. Thrown up on a few and wrestled with anyone who tried to stop you from scratching that rash of sorts that you got, but no biting."

"Then why are you here?" Roy asked as he gestured with his mitted hands at the clothing Johnny was wearing.

"Well, that, see, after they got you settled down some all the big wigs involved in seeing that no one else dies from this outbreak pulled everyone that had been anywhere near that kid in and, ah, sort of evaluated their risk of infection, so to speak. They figured I probably wasn't exposed enough to be of risk and all but the thing of it is that if they guessed wrong the end results are pretty unforgiving, and well, Cap was there and he's worried about the two of us worse than a mother hen and it was decided that maybe it would be best if I got the shots after all."

Roy let out a deep breath and continued to work toward waking up. He now recognized the fog he was in as the residue of being sedated and remembered the cramps, nausea, and infernal itching. Now he just felt slightly lousy, a rather significant improvement over his last clear memories. Johnny, it seemed, was fairing much better.

"What did they do, cut the dosage in half for you or something?"

"No, they're still trying to decide if I need the full series or if I can get by with what they call a pre exposure regimen. The only difference is one shot less than what you'll get, but I think just to play it on the safe side they're probably going to give me the full series. At least they will if Cap has anything to say about it."

"Cap's really spooked huh?"

"You could say that. He just kept asking if it was worth the risk. He sure asked a lot of other questions to, like whether or not the dishes we ate and drank out of needed to be specially washed or anything."

"Do they?"

"NO." Johnny smiled back at his partner, it was still evident that Roy had seen better days but he was looking better than he did the day before. Well all except the injections sights, they were still quite red and swollen and bruising was starting to show where the vaccine had been injected. "Dr. Holt explained that we're not in the least bit contagious until the virus builds up enough to show up in our saliva. In someone our size that would take one and a half to two months. There's been no record of anyone actually getting rabies if they have the shots, so there's nothing to worry about."

"So how is it that you're doing so much better with these shots than I am?"

"The guy from the CDC recommended a vaccine from a different company. I guess there are different ways to make it and different stuff they add to the vaccine so that it will keep on the shelf. They looked at my back medical history and recommended one for me that they thought I'd handle better. I was a little stiff and sore last night but nothing a couple of aspirin couldn't help with." Roy didn't miss the way John rubbed his shoulders with his hands; it was clear his injection sites were a little on the tender side as well.

"Doc was going to let me go home last night but I talked him into keeping me with you so that I could convince JoAnne to go home and get some rest; it was kind of a long day for her."

Roy's eyes started to fill with the thoughts of what he was putting his wife through. "Thanks a lot; I know how much you hate this place as a patient."

Johnny just smiled. "I really didn't feel that much like a patient, but you're welcome."

Roy blew out a deep breath, "Hey, my mouth tastes like something died in there. Could you help me with a drink?"

"Sorry," Johnny grimaced, "You really had a rough time keeping anything down yesterday. They've still got you on nothing by mouth. Let me ring the nurse and see if we can do something about that."

While John reached over the top of Roy to push the call button, Roy took a good look at his arms. It didn't take him long to understand why he was wearing the mittens, he looked like he'd lost a fight with a cat, several cats in fact.

"I guess this is why they kept me so out of it." Roy gestured with the nod of his head toward his arms.

"It was either that or full restraints there for a while. At one point you had Mike, Marco and Chet all holding you down. I think you're through the worst of it though."

"Yeah," Roy sighed, "Until the next shot."

"I think they've picked out a different brand for you for your next shot so maybe you'll have an easier time of it. It's supposed to get easier with each shot anyway."

"I sure hope so, I'm sure not looking forward to feeling like this for a month."

The nurse came in about then. She couldn't give Roy anything to drink but she was able to wash his mouth out with a mouthwash soaked sponge on a stick, and that helped. An hour later Dr. Brackett came in on his rounds and Roy's mittens were removed and he was placed on a liquid diet to be upgraded to a bland diet at lunch if the liquids were well tolerated. JoAnne arrived before the doctor left and she was pleased to see the improvement in her husband. Chet was waiting in the hall until Dr. Brackett was done and then he took John home to rest. John and Roy would be getting their next shots on day three, so day after tomorrow, and then the next ones on day seven.

If John continued to get by with mild side effects he would be allowed to go back to work after the third shot. It was deemed wise that he not work for twenty-four hours after each shot because of the stiffness at the injection site but all that would require would be shifting his schedule a little. But either time off or light duty was being recommended for Roy until all of his shots were finished. Maybe if the new brand of shots worked out they'd change that.

Roy continued to improve throughout the day and he spent the next day walking the halls of the hospital building up his strength and working out his muscles. The day of his next shot Roy was starting to get sick just thinking about it.

John showed up as moral support and for his next shot so at least he had someone to commiserate with a little. The nurses started by administering mild pain medication an hour before the shots were given. In Roy's case they also administered medications to prevent nausea and to get a jump on any hives that might result from the shot. This shot was given in the thigh for both men and by the time it was over Roy was ready for a nap. Again the injection sight inflamed with a red welt the size of his hand but Roy handled it much better than his first shot.

Johnny went home an hour after his shot, Roy was released to go home the next day.

JoAnne agreed to drive both Johnny and Roy in for their third shot on day seven. Johnny started the day by arriving at the DeSoto's house for breakfast. He was able to encourage Roy to eat at least something and then they puttered around and played with Jenny and Chris for a while. An hour before they needed to be at the hospital both Johnny and Roy took their pills. While they were waiting for JoAnne to take the children to a neighbor's house Roy confessed to John that he felt like he needed to learn how to play with his children again.

"Even though they say I'm not in any way contagious, I find myself not wanting to take any chances."

"Roy," Johnny started and then took a deep breath to choose the best words. "I guess I can understand your feelings but it's going to be alright. You don't think Brackett would even let you near your family if there was a chance of passing this on now do you?"

Roy let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, I know that, at least I know that here." He pointed to his head, "I'm just not sure the rest of me has bought in to that philosophy." Roy sat there fiddling with his fingers as Johnny both hopped his friend had more to say and struggled to find something he could say.

"JoAnne and I were able to talk about it before you got here this morning, it took her a while but she seems to understand, well understand at least as well as I do. We've agreed on a few ways to work through it. Wrestling with the kids a few minutes ago was one of those things."

Johnny looked away with a look of understanding then a smile slowly grew on his face as he turned back to Roy with a raised eye brow.

"We, ah, haven't made it there yet, I still need to ask Dr. Brackett a couple of questions before I can, well um, first."

Just then JoAnne returned bringing an end to the conversation. The two men were ushered to the DeSoto station wagon and they were on their way. Both men expected to be returning home within a few hours but given his history with the shots Roy had an overnight bag in the car just in case.

At the hospital they were guided to a room where three beds had been squeezed in against the wall along with a couple of recliner chairs. After looking over the patient files and asking if and when they took their premeds Roy was guided over to one of the beds and Johnny to the recliner next to it. Before they got into the bed and recliner however they were both instructed to take off their pants.

The goal on the medical staff's part was to find a different site for each injection that was to be given. Their target today was the opposite thigh of the one that had been used for the last injection.

Both men were told that they could keep their underwear on and each was only given a towel to cover their legs with. Apprehensively they did as they were told and a few minutes later the nurse returned with their injections. After they were given, both Johnny and Roy were encouraged to relax as much as possible and moments later another nurse came in with two hot packs.

"We're not sure if this will help for sure but we know it won't hurt." She offered as an explanation as the hot packs were placed over the injection sites.

When Dr. Brackett came through to check on the men before he released them to go home it was clear by the look on his face that he had something to talk to the men about and it was pretty obvious that they weren't going to like it.

"What is it, Doc?" Johnny spoke up first as Roy rolled over in bed to get a good look at the doctor. "Just spit it out whatever it is."

"Has someone else started showing symptoms?" Roy added the first thing that came to his mind.

"No, well, yes there is another case at Harbor General that might be related to this but it's too soon to tell at this point. I just got word about it an hour ago. The reason I'm here, besides to see how you two are doing, is that there are five young boys in a room down the hall who are feeling like they're being punished for trying to help a bunch of baby animals and traumatized by the fact that they were all killed after they had worked so hard to keep them alive. Their families have engaged a psychiatrist to help them work through some of their feelings and he came to me suggesting that it might help if you guys visited with them. The boys have a lot of questions for you, if you're up to it."

Kel Brackett had seen what happened next many times before but it never ceased to amaze him. John and Roy locked eyes with each other and without saying a word, communicated their hopes, fears, and willingness to do what the doctor had asked of them. The communication was completed with a subtle nod of the head from each of them before John turned to Dr. Brackett. "We, do get to put our pants back on before we go down there, don't we?"

Being caught off guard slightly by the question, Dr. Brackett had to think for just a second and then let out a smirk before he spoke. "Yes, of course, just let me take a look at those injections sites."


	6. Chapter 6

Bitten

Chapter 6

To say John and Roy were apprehensive about being questioned by a bunch of kids was an understatement. It was one thing to give out safety information to a group of kids on tour of the station but this was different and the difference was more than not having their uniforms to stand behind.

Still, neither man could think of a reason not to submit to the request and both of them thought they understood how the boys must be feeling and what they were going through, at least as far as the shots were concerned. They were both thinking hard to find the right words up front that they hoped would help the boys understand that they were not wrong to care for another living thing but that there are dangers out there that they needed to understand and in the future they should involve adults that could help them understand those dangers.

As the two men pulled their pants back on it was evident that the hot packs had helped some but Roy was still experiencing more side effects than Johnny. The nurse came in ahead of the wheelchairs with medications for the discomfort. Johnny quickly swallowed his pills then turned to watch over Roy. Roy was already experiencing some mild nausea, instead of pills he got yet another shot, this one in his arm and nothing but relief was expected to come from this one.

Standing to get into the wheelchairs was not the most pleasant thing with the lumps in their thighs but they both made the move unaided. Dr. Brackett took control of Roy's wheelchair and JoAnne stepped up to his side and took hold of her husband's hand as they walked down the hall together A nurse pushed Johnny's wheelchair behind them.

They entered a room that was a little larger than the one they had been in. There were five beds in this room, four lining the walls and one in the middle. The chairs, there were four of them, each placed near a bed, were slightly smaller and less padded than the one Johnny had been using. There was a young boy in each bed. They ranged in age from six to ten. The chairs were filled with mothers while one father sat in a folding chair at the side of the oldest boy. There were plenty of sobs in the room as John and Roy were wheeled in. The parents' eyes bore evidence that this ordeal wasn't easy on them either. There was also a faint odor to indicate that at least one emesis basin had been needed in the room.

John and Roy were parked at the front of the room and a few extra chairs were brought in for JoAnne, Dr. Brackett, and the Psychiatrist for the group of boys and their families. Since medications were being given to the boys to help them deal with the side effects of the vaccines it was determined early that a doctor who could understand the effects of those medications was the best choice instead of a simple psychologist who couldn't prescribe meds that might be needed.

Everyone was introduced and it was learned that one of the boys was a brother to the one who died, and two of the other boys were brothers. Then the boys were told that they could ask any question they had and someone would see to it that they got the answers.

The first question came from the youngest of the group. He wanted to know why he had to have more shots than some of the others. It was explained that it took a certain amount of medicine to kill the virus that he had gotten into his body when the baby raccoon scratched him, but that he was small enough that he couldn't take as much of the medicine at one time so they had to give him smaller and more frequent shots. The boy didn't look happy with that explanation but then no one could blame him either.

From there the room was quiet for some time. Boys looked around at each other and then at their parents. There were a few sniffles and the sounds of shifting furniture as bodies tried to get comfortable.

Finally one of the boys blurted out his question. "Did they have to kill Bobby like they did the baby raccoons?"

"No!" John, Roy, JoAnne and Dr. Brackett spoke in unison, the psychiatrist remained suspiciously quiet.

"He wasn't killed, son. Bobby was really sick, but the doctors and nurses here at the hospital did everything they could to help him get better." Roy spoke up just ahead of Dr. Brackett.

"Son, your friend was just too sick." Dr. Brackett found his voice. "We did everything we knew how to do and it just wasn't enough. But I assure you he was not killed like it was necessary to do to the raccoons."

Dr. Brackett, as well as Roy and Johnny, had been advised not to say anything about how the boy should have been treated when he was first bitten; that had already been the topic of several discussions in their counseling and the boys just weren't able to handle that guilt at this point.

"But they said you gave Bobby drugs to put him in a coma," one boy challenged.

"What is a coma anyway?" another of the boys wanted to know.

Dr. Brackett took on that question. "A coma is just a deep sleep. We gave Bobby medicine to put him into a sound sleep for a couple of reasons; one was to help him rest so that all his body had to do was help him get better. It also helped him not to feel the pain of the things we needed to do to him to try and help him get better. A lot like when a person has an operation. I assure you all, we didn't kill your friend. I promise we did everything in our power to keep him alive."

Roy and John picked up a hint of emotion in Dr. Brackett's voice as a testimony of how hard this ordeal had been on him, but they doubted anyone else in the room knew him well enough to pick up on it.

There was again a moment of quiet punctuated by sobs and sniffles, mothers reached out and touched their children in some way

One little boy spoke softly with his head hung low. "I still don't understand how Bobby can be dead. It was just a little bite, it didn't even bleed very much. All he needed was a Band-Aid."

Roy, John and Dr. Brackett shuddered and gulped back their emotions as they tried to find the words to say but it was the physiatrist, Dr. Jordan, who spoke. "It's very understandable why you're having a difficult time with this. We'll talk about it more to help you understand when you're feeling better. Do any of you boys want to ask any questions of the firemen here?"

Again there was a moment of silence as each of the boys and their parents lowered their heads to study either the floor or their hands.

"Do you hate my brother?" one boy finally spoke up with tears streaming down his face. "I don't know why he bit you but he was a really good brother."

Roy waited to reply until he could unlock his wheelchair and roll it over so that he was face to face with the boy who needed to hear what he was going to say. After placing a hand on the boy's leg Roy spoke with conviction. "No, I don't hate your brother. When he bit me he was so sick that he couldn't tell that we were trying to help him. I had to hold him tight so he couldn't move so we could find out how high his temperature was and how well his heart was working. I'm sure I frightened him really bad. I'm also sure your brother was a very good brother. He got sick trying to help an animal that was sick and that tells me he was a very caring person. I kind of have an idea how much work it took to take care of those baby raccoons when you guys first brought them home. Anyone who would do that has to be a very caring and wonderful person. I just feel really, really sorry that there was nothing I could do to make Bobby better." Roy's eyes were moist when the young boy finally was able to look up at him.

"Do you think Jesus knows that he didn't mean to bite you?"

"I know Jesus knows your brother didn't mean to bite me, and I believe Jesus is helping Bobby right now because I'm sure he misses you as much as you miss him."

There wasn't a dry eye in the room and as much a Roy wanted to take the boy in his arms and hold him that was his parent's job and both his mother and father wrapped their arms around him and held him tight as they cried together.

Everyone talked for a while longer and Roy and Johnny invited the boys to come to the fire station to see the fire truck up close when they were all done with their shots.

JoAnne then took the two men home and while Johnny was there to watch after Roy she went to pick up the children and do a little grocery shopping.

Roy and John talked a lot about their visit with the boys and their own feelings with all that had happened. It wasn't hard to understand how the boys thought their friend and brother must have been killed, but they really felt for them and the fear those thoughts must have caused when they started their shots.

Roy tried to go without his next dose of anti nausea meds and as a result he was in the bathroom emptying his stomach when JoAnne came home with the children. Johnny was able to give Roy a shot and he soon felt much better but he also felt very sleepy and had no choice but to go to bed.

When Roy woke up several hours later he found his daughter in bed with him holding him tight and his son sitting on the bed holding his hand.

"Hi," Roy managed to smile for his children. He could tell that they were frightened and he knew he needed to try and assure them that everything was going to be alright.

Chris handed him a glass of water with a straw in it and he had just finished taking a testing sip when Chris asked him very matter of factly, "Dad, do you have cancer?"

JoAnne was standing in the doorway with a cup of soup for her husband and heard every word. Roy was aided to sit up in bed with pillows behind him as the two parents talked about what had happened. They were both very aware of the emotional tight rope they were walking between helping the children to understand the dangers of stray and wild animals without frightening them too badly.

Still, in the middle of the night, Jenny woke up screaming. When Roy and JoAnne got her settled down she was crying for the poor baby raccoons who's mommy died and wasn't there to take care of them while they were sick.

-0-

With a whole week before their next shot Roy was up and around and doing things around the yard. He even managed to go to one of Chris's baseball games that he would have missed if he had been working because he'd have been on duty. Dr. Brackett was concerned enough about Johnny's muscle stiffness to keep him off active duty too. But Johnny was at the fire academy teaching CPR to all the new recruits. For their second to last shot on day fourteen, the two men once again met at the DeSoto home for breakfast and JoAnne once again took them in and waited for them. This time they did get their shots in the buttocks and spent the next hour afterwards lying on their stomach. Neither of them sat down unless they absolutely had to for the next day and a half.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Brackett and the doctors he was working with on the rabies cases managed to keep news of a rabies outbreak out of the press for a surprisingly long time. But by the end of the second week, bull dog reporters had managed to dig up enough publicly available information to start running with their stories. A young boy dying of a disease that could have been prevented with today's medicine was news worthy and so was the aftermath that came with it.

Roy and John were merely identified as two LA County Firemen/Paramedics, no names were given and the department didn't even make a statement; they only confirmed that two of their own were undergoing treatment after exposure to rabies.

Most of the news stations and papers tried to take the higher ground making attempts to educate the general public but as is common in the news profession not all of their facts were correct and those listening and reading didn't understand most of what was said and written.

On John's first shift back to work he responded to three gunshot wounds where someone was trying to shoot what they thought was a stray dog and missed, hitting another person instead. Fortunately most of the injuries were minor, hitting the person in the leg or an arm. One man was shot by police when he refused to give up his gun.

Rampart, he learned later in the day, had been inundated with every person in the city that had ever been scratched or bitten by their pets in addition to three separate patients that had been stung by bees and brought the offending insects to the hospital in a jar wanting to know if they were rabid.

The firefighting shift was extended to deal with a brush fire set by a man who was trying to kill all the rabid animals that lived on the hill behind his house. The loss of three houses and a popular park, along with serious damage to six more houses, seemed to call for some better reasoning to be applied in dealing with the matter.

The press then started calling for calm thinking and drilling the phone numbers for animal control, strongly advising that they be allowed to deal with the situation. News stories turned to the Department of Animal Control and reported all the actions taken to prevent the spread of rabies, like trapping suspicious animals and keeping populations as low as possible and tossing out treats to the wild animals that were laced with the rabies vaccine. One news station interviewed an animal control officer who detailed the safest way to deal with a suspicious animal. He made sure the phone number to his dispatch center was at the bottom of the screen at all times and instructed anyone watching to call in then just watch the animal from a distance until they arrived. It was also explained that live animal traps were available for loan, with a small deposit, from the Animal Shelter to capture any animal lurking around and once the animals were captured Animal Control could be contacted to come pick them up.

"Let's hope that stops some of the madness that's going on out there," Captain Stanley said as he turned off the TV. There was still work to do at the station but because this news cast affected them all he had allowed the work to stop for the duration of the news cast. He was grateful that he tones had remained silent while it was on.

-0-

With two weeks between the fourth and fifth shots, Roy took Johnny's place at the fire academy teaching CPR. Since Roy had lost close to twenty pounds over the course of the shots, Dr. Brackett insisted that he keep his involvement with the academy to no more than thirty hours a week.

-0-

More unwelcomed news was presented during roll call on the next shift as Captain Stanley read a mandate from headquarters.

"From here on out any stray dog or cat seen near the station is not to be touched," Hank read out loud. "We are to call the animal control authorities to come and pick up the animal and to keep an eye on it if we can, until they arrive. This station has been put on alert that we are going to be watched closely since we are on record as having taken three such animals in and keeping two of them as mascots. If this were to happen again we could all face dismissal.

"The new mandate is that there will be no animals around a fire station unless they are rescue trained and certified by the department in compliance with the rules and regulations that are available from headquarters if anyone is interested in pursuing that kind of a thing. I can tell you now that it will be a personally owned dog and the owner will incur the cost of training for both themselves and their dog as well as the required continuing education and off duty drills required to maintain certifications, and when you go home after the shift is over the dog goes home with you. And I'm sorry to say, men, there's not a lot of compensation for the extra work.

"There is currently a debate at headquarters concerning whether or not Henry will be allowed to stay here at the station. I and the other captains who work out of this station have made a plea that he be allowed to remain Station 51's mascot as long as he lives and the Chief has backed us up claiming the dog offers a form of calming therapy to us after a tough run. As of this morning the decision as to whether or not he'll be allowed to remain has not been made. Several of the men who work at this station are getting together to come up with a contingency plan if it is decided that he has to go. None of us involved want to see him taken to the pound and where he has been with us for a significant amount of time and has received the recommended immunizations, we have been told that we will be allowed to see to it that he finds a good home. But if the word comes down from headquarters that he has to go, he will need to be out of this station before the end of the day so anyone who is interested in possibly taking Henry home to be part of their family, not just on a temporary basis, get with Walker from B shift. He's heading a committee to see that Henry's taken care of. Oh, and on the chance that the big wigs from headquarters want to come by to meet our lazy shift mate let's make sure we get this place spotless and keep it that way."

When the men were dismissed to get on with their assigned duties, many of them were grumbling about no pet clauses and having other pets at home. Marco asked Chet if he thought Henry would get along with his two cats and Chet called his sister to see if she might be willing to take care of Henry while he was on duty.

Later in the shift it was learned that Captain Stanley had talked things over with his wife and they were willing to take Henry into their home. A special chair would be placed in the kitchen near the back door for him if he came to live at the Stanley house because Mrs. Stanley didn't want the dog's hair on her living room furniture. Most of the shift thought that was the best solution if Henry did have to go; after all he was named after the captain… well sort of.

No matter where the dog went most of the men on all three shifts were requesting visitation rights and most of those who were seriously figuring they could take him home were willing to grant it.

They all found themselves giving extra attention to the station pet throughout the day. Roy even managed to stop by the station for a while after having been called at home with the news. He and JoAnne agreed to take him if no one else wanted the dog but they also agreed that since they already had a dog their home wasn't the best place.

-0-

The day for Roy and John's fifth and last shot arrived twenty eight days after that three a.m. phone call to the station that alerted them to the diagnosis.

John worked the day and night before his last shot so that he would miss the minimum amount of work. Captain Stanley had managed to trade shifts for the whole shift so that they could be together to offer John and Roy, all the support they could on their first day back at the station post rabies shots.

John was scheduled to be off for three days after his last shot even though they had all been assured should give him the least side effects since the men had already started building the antibodies their system needed.

The shift had been busy enough that John was sure he would just be sleeping the rest of the day after his shot away. Due to a late run to rescue a fallen hiker in the canyon area John was late arriving for his last shot. Roy had been there for an hour and felt a greater amount of anxiety without John and his moral support at his side. When John did arrive he was still in uniform having just stayed at the hospital after arriving by helicopter with the last victim. Those were Cap's instructions as he climbed into the helicopter with the victim.

John arrived just as Roy was being given his shot and he nearly fell asleep before the nurse placed the hot pad and pulled the blankets over Roy.

Once the nurse questioned John about his pre medications she was concerned that he hadn't had them yet but he assured her there was no reason to wait for them to take effect; he most certainly was going to sleep through whatever side effects would happen. He swallowed the pills, changed into the hospital gown and climbed into the bed. Pillows were placed to keep him on his side and when the nurse informed him she was going to give him the shot John barely mumbled a reply. Roy and JoAnne just looked at each other and giggled.

Cap arrived with John's change of clothes before Roy was ready to leave and since he was the one who talked John into taking the series of shots he would save JoAnne the trouble of taking care of two men and take John home with him for the first night. First he would have to wake him up and after the long and busy shift he had worked and the additional pain medication before his shot, waking up John Gage was not an easy task. Hank and JoAnne managed to get him sitting up on the side of the bed and Johnny was able to help but he had to be stopped before he put his pants on over his head, and some of the things he was saying really didn't make a lot of sense. Hank finally got him into his jogging pants and t-shirt.

Roy sat in the wheelchair at the side of the bed, leaning to one side to keep the pressure off his injection site and laughing so hard he had to stop a few times to catch his breath. Dr. Brackett accused the nurse of giving Roy nitrous oxide but they were all enjoying Roy's laugh as they worked to get some clothes on Johnny.

Once Johnny was fully dressed, Hank literally lifted him into the wheelchair and pushed him out of the room. While they rode down in the elevator Johnny rested his head back against Hank's stomach and fell right back to sleep. When the elevator stopped Hank gave Johnny a couple of slaps on his shoulder and he was a wake again, sort of.

When they arrived at the Stanley residence, Hank just pulled one of John's arms over his shoulder and led him into the house and right to the guest room. "Now, John, do you need anything to eat before you go to sleep?" Hank asked as his wife turned the bed down.

"I think it's too late for that, Cap," Johnny managed to say as he kneeled on the bed and moved to get comfortable on his stomach; once he was lying down he mumbled something that no one was able to understand and then he was asleep again. Hank and his wife shared a smile not much different than Roy and his wife had done at the hospital. The sheet and a blanket were pulled over Johnny and after watching him for a few minutes to make sure he was alright, Hank went off to get some sleep himself. It had truly been a long day after a long shift for everyone.

At the DeSoto house JoAnne wrapped her arm around her husband's waist and walked him into the house. The conversation the whole way home was of the relief he felt that this was the last shot he would have to endure. The children were at the neighbors for the few minutes they had been out of school before their parents got home. Roy was still standing at the sink drinking a glass of water to wash his pills down when the children came in with hugs for their father before they took over leading him to his bed for the nap they already knew he would need. Jenny took hold of his hand and pulled him toward his bedroom while Chris walked behind his dad with his hands on his lower back pushing. As Roy lay down he looked at each of his children and sighed. "Today was the last shot, there will be no more."

-0-

Meanwhile, back at station 51, C shift was hosting a delegation from headquarters that was visiting the four stations that had station pets.

The first station on their tour had a black and grey striped cat with patches of brown around one eye and one foot. She demonstrated her expert mouse catching ability by dropping one of the mutilated critters at the feet of the Deputy Chief leading the delegation.

They were all able to see the field that ran behind the station and knew that as long as that area remained undeveloped the station would be prone to such infestations so Mouse Trap the cat was granted a place at station 105 for the rest of her days.

Station 95 had already taken a vote and since their pooch was still a puppy at heart and had only been with the station for a little over two months, it was felt that he needed some consistent training at the hands of a single person. One of the men had just lost their family dog to old age and since he was willing to take Hot Foot into his family it was determined that that was the best thing for the dog and the station both. Problem solved without any help from headquarters.

39's dog already had the delegations approval before they saw him. First of all he was a Dalmatian mix, something that just cried of being a fire dog. Second he had on two recorded occasions sniffed out and drawn the captain's attention to the use of accelerants at a fire. Smokey had the added advantage of two brothers who worked different shifts at his station and the brothers mostly took on the job of the dog's handlers. Still, to be fair to all the mascots the men had to make a visit. The station was empty when they arrived and a quick check with dispatch informed them that the station was only a short distance away working on a structure fire so the delegation of four made their way to the fire scene.

The fire turned out to be a car fire in the garage. The station had arrived in good time and had been able to prevent the fire from doing too much damage to the house but still one young boy and his father were being treated for some mild burns and smoke inhalation. The father and son had been working together on the engine of the car when the fire started. They weren't sure how the fire started yet but they suspected it had something to do with some old rags and a soldering iron.

When the delegation from headquarters arrived on scene they took in the paramedics taking care of the father and son. At their side was one spotted dog with an unusual build. She had a hank of rather ratty looking rope in her mouth to keep her teeth busy and her head rested in the boy's lap as they worked to bandage his arm.

That was all they needed to see; the dog would stay with the station as long as she lived. Since they really needed to move along so that there was room for the ambulance to back in, they did so.

On to station 51. "So, according to the records this dog was found lounging on their sofa when they came back from a run?" one of the delegation members questioned as they drove.

"So I've been told," another in the car added his voice to the conversation. "I've also been told he never leaves that sofa except for forced potty breaks and occasionally when he can't mentally persuade the firemen to bring his food to him."

"You've got to be kidding." The driver turned disbelieving eyes to the rearview mirror where he could make eye contact with the two men in the back seat.

"We're about to see for ourselves," was the only response.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

When the Station Pet Delegation let themselves into Station 51 they found the engineer and linemen of B shift mulling around in the bay area just outside the door to the day room.

"We're here to perform an evaluation on your station mascot," the leading man commented before he noticed all of the men had their attention drawn through the door to the day room. Following their eyes the delegation saw a man in civilian clothes sitting on the sofa with his arms around a basset hound. The man looked distraught, nearly catatonic, with tears streaming down his face. Henry licked the man's face and then lay his head on the man's chest while the paramedic team worked together to check the man's vitals.

"Well, Dick, your pressure is getting closer to where it needs to be," one of the paramedics said softly as he reached up and gave the man's shoulder a squeeze.

Soon Captain Hookraider came from the office with a man they knew as the department's crisis psychiatrist at his side. "I'll be with you men in just a moment," Hookraider said as he lead the doctor into the dayroom then turned around to address his engineer. "Dave, when Captain Tollins gets here will you send him in."

Captain Hookraider was answered with the nod of a head and Captain Tollins arrived just five minutes later wearing his street clothes. He didn't have to be told where to go, he already knew.

The men who made up the delegation watched as Captain Tollins sat next to the man on the sofa and started to rub his back with one hand and the dog's head with the other. After a few moments of quiet talk, that couldn't be heard outside the room, the distraught man was given a shot that was assumed to be a sedative and then Captain Tollins lifted the dog out of the Dick's arms. He and the psychiatrist then helped Dick to his feet and out the side door to a car.

Captain Hookraider, whose reputation as being a rough, hardnosed Captain was well known, stood looking at the now closed door for a moment before giving Henry the dog a good rub before he was able to turn to the rest of his guests.

"Thank you for waiting. What can I do for you men?"

Before the men announced who they were the spokesman for the group inquired about what had just happened.

"Oh, that was Dick Wilson from C shift. I guess his wife went into premature labor yesterday and they weren't able to stop it. She was only five months along; The baby died before she was an hour old. I guess he held it all together for his wife and then when the doctor sedated her, he came here to cry on Henry's shoulder. His Captain is taking care of him now."

While Captain Hookraider was explaining the situation, the men of the delegation watched as each man on the station moved forward to affectionately pet the dog who was now lounging on the sofa like he owned it.

The delegation was then led into the room and introduced to the dog. Henry just looked at them with his sad pleading eyes.

The department psychiatrist returned to the day room. "I think he'll be fine now," he stated as he picked up his doctor's bag. "He just needed to allow himself to grieve. His captain is going to see to it that he gets some sleep. Once he's done that I'm sure he'll be able to deal with the ordeal at hand and should be able to return to work as soon as he has taken care of his daughter's funeral."

The doctor then noticed all of the attention being given to the dog on the couch. "Is this the famous 51's Henry? I've had more than one of my patients tell me all they need from me is the recommendation that they work a couple of shifts at station 51 so that they can tell Henry here all their troubles."

"Are you telling me this dog is cutting into your business?" one of the delegation members questioned with a smirk.

"There's more than enough work for someone like me in this department. All the horrors these men see and have to deal with, it's no wonder. But this dog seems to help with all the minor stuff. I sure wish we could get one like him in every station but since cloning hasn't been perfected yet I'm sure glad the guys here are willing to share him a little."

Henry then looked up at all of the men gathered around him, his eyes so sad there wasn't a person there who could issue an eviction notice to the dog. After all, he didn't take up much room and all of the captains had written a statement saying he was low maintenance and that they never had to worry about him getting under the tires of the engine.

Each man of the delegation gave the dog a good petting before they left declaring he was set for life in a place where he was clearly loved. As they left they were talking and wondering if they should requisition an additional sofa for station 51. One for the men to sit on and one for Henry to use as a therapy couch.

-0-

When A shift heard the news that Henry had passed inspection and was going to be allowed to stay at the station they were all more than a little surprised. At least they were until B shift started to enlighten them with the details of what happened the day the delegation came by to make their decision.

Roy and Johnny were thrilled to be finished with their shots and everyone seemed to spend a little time on Henry's couch that day telling him how glad they were that he was going to stay and a few other things that they were comforted would go no farther.

Since all of the boys had finished their shots, too, they started filing through for the tour of the fire station they had been promised.

Roy and John took those on personally whenever they could and the tours included a lot of talk about pets and preventing rabies and each one of the boys, along with a few of the parents, managed to get a private session with Henry. The dog loved getting his stuffing nearly squeezed out a few times and the boys knew he was as sad as they were over the loss of their friend.

When the last of the families left the station Hank Stanley watched on in wonder before turning back to his desk and the mountain of paperwork as he spoke to no one in particular.

"Maybe we should take headquarters up on that additional sofa."


End file.
